It seem hard to believe, but I still run into racers who become angry when you point out an NHRA safety violation on their race vehicle. Some people seem to feel that this is just an attempt to "keep them from having a good time" at a FFW event. Nothing could be further from the truth. It hurts to have to inform a racer that he can't compete at Fun Ford Weekend because his car is illegal. In all likely hood, he has already spent time and money getting ready for the event. To have to go home without racing has got to be a terrible blow to what should be a great week end.

Let me give you an example. I recently attended a FFW event and was assisting James Jacobs with tech on Saturday and Sunday. As any racer who has attended a Fun Ford Weekend event in the past, you know that there are really two "techs" for the heads-up classes. The first is the local host track's NHRA safety tech (roll bar, cage, license, etc.) and then FFW's heads-up "class rules" tech. James won't tech for class rules unless the car has first passed the NHRA safety tech.

At this particular event, we had a competitor in the Modified Lightning class who sailed through the NHRA tech with no problems, primarily because he neglected to inform the NHRA officials that his truck was capable of running in the 11's. And, as you can guess, he had no roll bar or other mandatory safety equipment needed to run under 12.00 second ET's. The NHRA tech inspector probably figured that this Lightning (which was supercharged) ran like most other hot Lightnings, which is in the 13 or 14 second range. After all, most of these trucks all look similar. And, as it turned out, the Lightning class racers didn't need to go through James' inspection.

During qualifying on Saturday, apparently no one was paying attention to ET's. On Sunday, however, during the first round of eliminations, he defeated his competition with an 11.34 second ET. Bingo. This attracted some attention to his truck. And of course, after a brief inspection, it was determined that the truck didn't meet any of the safety standards mandated by this sub 12 second ET. The competitor was promptly (and tactfully) told that he was out and the guy he defeated was reinstated.

Normally, this is the end of it. But in this instance, the driver became incensed that he had been thrown out. His story was that "he didn't know" about the NHRA rules. Haven't we all heard that one before? Now, I will be honest with you. If I didn't know something that was really about "saving my life" (roll bar, 3" belts, etc.), and somebody took the time to inform me about it, I don't think that I would be angry. I would probably show some gratitude. Kind of like someone telling me not to sleep on the railroad tracks. Thank you, I'd say.

In this particular case, I suspect that the driver probably did know about the NHRA safety rules regarding 11 second ET's. I suspect that he just didn't want to have a roll bar installed on his truck, which I can sort of understand, but if you want to race, the rules are the rules.

What he failed to understand, and what I hope everyone does understand, is that EVERYONE OF NHRA's SAFETY RULES AND PROCEDURES CAME ABOUT AS THE RESULT OF A DEAD (OR MAIMED) RACER. I am very serious about this fact. Some racer, at some time in the past, died because a particular safety rule didn't exist.

When I started racing in the late 1950's, roll bars, driver restraint systems, scattershields, good axles, and almost anything else that we can think of that effects safety, didn't exist. Most of us didn't even have helmets. I can remember when top fuel dragsters had no roll bars, or if they had one, it went up to your shoulders. The highest part of the car was usually your head. Firesuits? We raced in T-shirts. We were stupid. And some very good friends dies as the result.

Fortunately, safety rules now exist. You no longer have to risk dying, injury, having your flesh burned off, or almost any other bad thing. All you have to do is to make sure that your racer is built and equipped as required by the NHRA rule book. This is no punitive. It is for your own (and your competitor's) safety.

The final words about our unhappy Lightning racer was when Bill Alexander told him the following: "I would rather that you left he pissed off, than in the back of an ambulance". It is sad commentary when the Fun Ford Weekend crew are more concerned about the racer's safety than the racer is himself. And that is down right dumb, don't you think.